House Query

[mish1953]

[:D]
Hi this is a question about time and process.

Background, Im 54, a single dad (my 14 yr daughter lives with me), went BR on 10/07/07, have £20k equity in my house, have no one to buy the equity. I dont want to try to remortgage as I have 11 yrs before I retire and it would cost too much, letting agents in this area want 6 months deposit ( no chance ), I guess Im looking at housing assoc or council.

I know that I will lose my house but Im trying to get some idea of the timescale and the processes involved.

1) How long before the OR want the house ?
2) Does the OR have to get a court order to take the house ?
3) assuming that they get the house - how much notice do you get before having to leave ?

The local council say that I am adequently housed at present and that they will not look at my case until I have notice to leave or am homeless.

Iam paying the mortgage and NR are happy with that, if I return the house to NR or stop paying the mortgage then I am likely to be told by the council that I am making myself deliberatly homeless and therefore would not get a house.

I'm just trying to get some peace of mind , know that the Insolvency site says that I have up to a year but further reading says that is for the court to decide which implies the the OR will take it to court before the year is up.

Anyone been thru it like this ..CoCo maybe ?

thanks
Mish

[catullus]

Mish

The liklihood is that the OR will pass your case out to a private trustee, main reason being that the OR generally has a policy of not getting involved in applications for sale or possession.

The handover will take place pretty quickly but what happens after that depends on how proactive the private trustee is.

I'm no great expert on benefits but it seems clear that to get yourself up the housing ladder you need to demonstrate that you are homeless, and have not assisted in arriving at that position.

The private trustee will probably ask you to voluntarily surrender possession, and this is the bit that I'm no expert in, but I think that you should refuse to do that and ask the trustee to apply to the court for a possession order although you can agree that you will not seek to oppose the application.

Best guess as to how long all that will take? 3-6 months

[mish1953]

Thanks catullus much appreciated.

This BR stuff is as much about mental stress as anything, it almost feels that I have no control over anything.

I really want to get to somewhere (place & time ) that is stable for me and sproglette.

Darling daughter will be starting GCSE year next week, I would like to have things settled over the next 6 months.

thanks
Mish

[mish1953]

Re handing it to a private trustee
my 'examiner' at the OR office said that they are going to try to keep this 'in house' .

Cheaper maybe ?

[catullus]

That surprises me Mish and appears to be contrary to the OR's case help manual. See the link and follow family home

http://www.insolvency.gov.uk/freedomofi ... /index.htm

I do know that the OR now has a policy of keeping cases in house as far as possible but in your case the case help manual seems to make it clear that a private trustee should be sought.

May be it's out of date.

Yet more uncertainty I'm afraid. I can understand you wish to get this resolved as quickly as possible so may be you could clarify this with your examiner at the OR's

Either way, it doesn't really affect you who your trustee is

[MelanieGiles]

Hi Mish

Presumably this is because there is little equity?

As a bankrupt, with a child still in full time education, the Official Receiver will not be permitted by Court to commence repossession proceedings inside of the first year. You can either agree to a voluntary surrender of the property, or be party to possession proceedings which could lead to eventual eviction. If you are evicted you have a better chance of getting on the Council list, but this will cost approximately £5,000 in legal costs.

I suggest that you sit tight for the first year, and continue to pay the mortgage. If your are paying on a repayment basis, as Northern Rock to drop it to interest only and try and put some money asided towards your rental deposit. Once the first year is up, and you know that possession proceedings can be commenced, I would try negotiating with the Official Reciever on the basis that you will "go quitely" if you be allowed something towards your relocation and future rental costs for a private landlord. I cannot promise success, but commercially this is a cheaper option for creditors than proceedings, and you just might be lucky. I would also stop paying the mortgage at this time - advising Northern Rock of the reasons why. The money you can save in the time leading up to the property's sale, will be money you can put towards rehousing you and your daughter.

There is nothing sneaky in doing this - so long as you keep everyone informed of what you are doing.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[catullus]

The equity is £20k Melanie which is why I'm surprised the OR doesn't intend to put the case out.

In all other respects I submit to the expert. I said that I didn't know much about this aspect of possession and everything you say, as usual, is spot on.

[MelanieGiles]

Yes - I agree with you and remember questioning Mish about this in an earlier post - but obviously things are different in the South East OR's offices where perhaps the benchmark is higher.

Hope it doesn't rub off in the regions, or I am going to have to think of training for another career!!

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[mish1953]

Thanks Melanie,

I'll work on the principle that Im likely to be here for a 12 month, 20k equity and local letting agents want about £3k to £4k up front .
I am already on an interest only m/gage.
I would have to not pay my m/gage for 6 to 8 months to raise that ! --hmm dont think NR would like that much.

£5k for a possesion order ! Presumably that will reduce the amount of money for the creditors .

I think that Im going to have to stick it out, I really dont want to go into the private market, as I want some long term security which seems to be lacking in the private sector.

Im going to have to file this in the back of my mind and try to stop worrying about it till next year.

Thanks again
Mish

[pippa]

Melanie

as you know I am in a similar position to Mish with equity (30k) in my property, although currently on a repayment mortgage with a 3k redemption cost until sep 2009,. If i were to need to move due to no one to buy the BI and approached my lender to reduce to an interest only mortgage would the extra monies not then be available for my IPA?
Also would it be prudent rather than an estate agents valuation, to get a survey done instead, the house would not fetch its current value as is, I know a few issues would be raised and would effect the value. I think the cost of doing this would be worth while, if I do find someone to buy the BI.
And lastly, sorry [:I], but who ultimately has the last say, is it trustee to decide the outcome or can the OR 'over rule?

Regards

Pippa

[MelanieGiles]

Pippa - I think that the OR would turn a blind eye to that to be honest, but best to check first and let them know what you are doing this for and why. With equity at the level you have, and having personal knowledge of the workings of your OR's office, I can almost guarantee that you will end up with a private sector IP, who is unlikely to be too interested in your surplus income but will wnat to get the best deal out of the equity.

If you feel that a full survey would be helfpul to the calculation of beneficial interest, this is a good idea.

If there is a private sector Trustee in place, then the OR is not acting as Trustee any longer, so has no real say in the process apart from providing sanction to enable your Trustee to commence possession proceedings.

Regards, Melanie Giles, Insolvency Practitioner for over 20 years.

For further details contact me at http://www.melaniegiles.com and view my IVA blog at: http://melaniegiles.blogs.iva.co.uk

[pippa]

Melanie Thanks thats helped a lot,


Mish hope you get some peace of mind soon

Regards

Pippa